The MuscleCar Place

This week, Rob welcomes longtime friend, former podcast co-host, and Kahn Media founder Dan Kahn for a preview of SEMA 2026! Dan attended his first SEMA Show in 1998 as a teenage automotive magazine editor, and this year his agency celebrates its 18th anniversary during the show. He shares what builders and automotive content creators can do to turn a trip to Las Vegas into lasting opportunities....

The Muscle Car Place returns to Holley MoParty in Bowling Green, Kentucky! Kirk Hansen, Jimmy Morrison, and Nathan Warren bring home five interviews with the creators, builders, and enthusiasts behind some of the event’s most memorable cars and stories. Derek Bieri of Vice Grip Garage discusses rescuing forgotten cars, keeping his videos authentic, and his plans to turn a historic Chevrolet dealer...

It’s October, and Rick Schmidt of National Parts Depot is back for a Halloween edition of Ask Rick! This month, we tackle the business case for SEMA, explore the automotive career Rick would choose if NPD didn’t exist, and put his collector-car knowledge to work with two Halloween buying challenges. First, is SEMA worth the trip? Rick and Rob discuss the expense, preparation, and potential return...

What if I told you this drifting General Lee didn’t begin life as a Dodge Charger? This week, I’m joined by Nathan Warren of Warren Customs to discuss one of the wildest General Lee builds we’ve ever featured. Created for professional stunt performer Kevin Waterman, this purpose-built drift car started as a former police-package Ford Crown Victoria. Nathan removed nearly the entire Crown Vic body,...

Finding racing sponsors can be one of the toughest parts of building a motorsports career. Drivers often rely on cold calls, emails, sponsorship decks, and personal connections—but what if there were a better way to connect racers with the brands looking to support them? This week, Rob Kibbe talks with Heidi Bandish, founder of RacerShip, an online platform connecting racing athletes, mentors, and...

This week on Ask Rick, we’re celebrating Labor Day with a collector-car challenge built around the old rule about putting away your white clothes. Rick has $35,000 to choose between three very different white performance cars: a 1975 Pontiac Trans Am, a five-speed 1994 Ford Taurus SHO, and a 1989 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z. He must drive his selection for one year and then sell it—so which car offers...

Bridney Jordan returns to The Muscle Car Place to take us behind the scenes of the tire industry and answer some questions most of us have probably wondered while shopping for tires. Why can a factory tire rated for 60,000 miles be worn out at 30,000? Are expensive name-brand tires really better? Why can two seemingly similar tires have dramatically different prices? And does it still matter where...

TMCP #656 hits the road with six interviews packed into one episode. Rob starts at US Car Tool with Ryan Renadette, where the big news is the creation of brand-new reproduction 1968–69 Dodge Charger bodies built from AMD sheet metal. From there, Scotty Stapp takes over from RoadKill Nights 2026 with Mike Finnegan, David Kruk and his yellow Super Bee, Dodge’s Sam Barbeau, Jeff Turk from Blackbird P...

This week on Ask Rick, we're looking at the future of today's specialty performance cars. Dealer-built legends like Yenko, Nickey, and Mr. Norm's Mopars became some of the most valuable muscle cars ever built—but will modern performance vehicles from Shelby, Roush, RTR, and Hennessey follow the same path? Rick shares his thoughts on how technology, electronics, and changing collector trends could...

This week's episode has a little bit of everything I love. First, I share why I'm heading back to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, a place that's become much more than the world's largest aviation gathering for me. It's where I spent countless summers with my dad, and every time I go back I find myself reconnecting with those memories while getting excited about the future of aviation. This year I'm especi...

July means Independence Day, fireworks, and finding any excuse to put an old car on the road. This month on Ask Rick, Rick Schmidt from National Parts Depot and I kick things off by reminiscing about Fourth of July celebrations, childhood memories of America's Bicentennial, and the famous Freedom Train before turning our attention to a much bigger question: what does the future of the collector ca...

This week on The Muscle Car Place Podcast, we're bringing you a Double Bonus Racing Show featuring two guests who are helping shape the future of grassroots motorsports from very different angles. First, Robert sits down with Brandon Setzer of Setzer Racing and Development to discuss the world of Late Model racing, driver development, and what it really takes to climb the ladder toward NASCAR. As...

Vintage Air is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and in this special episode, Robert Kibbe welcomes Vintage Air President Rick Love for an in-depth conversation about the company's remarkable journey from a small hot rod air conditioning supplier to an industry leader. Rick shares how a chance meeting with founder Jack Chisenhall in the early 1980s led to a friendship, collaboration, and eventuall...

Father's Day is right around the corner, and on this month's Ask Rick, Rob Kibbe welcomes National Parts Depot CEO Rick Schmidt for a wide-ranging conversation covering everything from car show planning to collector car buying strategy. Drawing from more than twenty years of experience producing NPD's legendary Silver Springs Ford and GM shows, Rick shares what makes a great event, why most car sh...

This week on The Muscle Car Place, we're bringing you a special bonus episode recorded live from Jeep Jam in Panama City Beach, Florida. While a Jeep event may seem like an unusual stop for a muscle car podcast, the connection comes through FlexTread Floor Mats, a sister company to Legendary Auto Interiors. Legendary has long been known as one of the premier suppliers of restoration interiors for...

Featured Interview: This is a big month! The Muscle Car Place welcomes a brand-new sponsor to the network this month, but this partnership is about far more than advertising banners and product mentions. We’re trying to be a part of something BIG. I sat down with Bridney Jordan, Property Brands and Product Manager for Lexani, […] The post TMCP #648: Bridney Jordan and the Inside Baseba...

In this episode of The MuscleCar Place Podcast, guest host Bernie McPartland sits down with Mecum Auctions Senior Communications Manager David Morton during Mecum Houston for a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at one of the fastest-growing forces in the collector car world. What starts as a conversation about auctions quickly evolves into a deeper discussion about why live automotive experiences...

In this episode of The MuscleCar Place, Rob Kibbe and Rick Schmidt kick off May with a thoughtful look at Memorial Day—balancing its deeper meaning with the traditions that bring car enthusiasts together, from local parades to community gatherings. The conversation then shifts into the latest Dallas Kibbe Racing update, where steady progress on the track is matched by a big off-track milestone: a...

In this episode of The MuscleCar Place, Robert Kibbe sits down with John Kairys, Executive Director of the Automotive Aftermarket Charitable Foundation (AACF), to uncover one of the most impactful yet under-the-radar organizations in the industry. Since 1959, AACF has quietly provided financial assistance to individuals and families within the automotive aftermarket facing life’s toughest challeng...

Dr. Jamie Meyer returns to preview year two of the High Performance Expo (HPX), coming June 2–4 to the Charlotte Convention Center—and this isn’t just another trade show. Built to unite the racing, aftermarket, OEM, dealer, off-road, and overlanding worlds, HPX is quickly becoming the East Coast hub the industry has been missing. After a surprisingly strong debut, year two expands with bigger lead...

Rick Schmidt from National Parts Depot returns for the April edition of Ask Rick, fresh off an incredible run of back-to-back concours events—taking wins at both Moda Miami and Amelia Island. In this episode, Rick and Rob break down what really goes into competing at that level, from how cars are selected and judged to the behind-the-scenes dynamics most enthusiasts never see. Along the way, they...

Mike Finnegan returns to The MuscleCar Place for a special edition episode, and as always, he brings the stories, honesty, and perspective that only he can deliver. From his early days on Roadkill to becoming a full-time YouTube creator with Finnegan’s Garage, Mike shares what life looks like after the 2024 shutdown of Motor Trend productions. What once felt uncertain turned into the perfect trans...

Scott Bowers from Ron Francis Wiring returns to The MuscleCar Place to talk about the art—and reality—of wiring hot rods the right way. With decades of experience helping builders bring everything from garage projects to award-winning show cars to life, Scott shares why thoughtful wiring design makes all the difference. Instead of generic “universal” kits, Ron Francis Wiring focuses on engineered...

This month on Ask Rick, Rick Schmidt from National Parts Depot joins us for a St. Patrick’s Day edition covering everything from green cars and Guinness to real-world business questions. We discuss whether presidential addresses truly move the needle for business decisions, what the current tariff situation looks like on Taiwanese restoration sheetmetal, and how NPD is handling pricing in real tim...

Jason Noel, founder of Fat Fender Garage in Gilbert, Arizona, joins us this week with a story that’s less about horsepower at the beginning — and more about perseverance. Jason didn’t grow up chasing race cars. He was a finish carpenter by trade, building doors and crown molding before the 2008 housing collapse wiped out his business and forced a complete reset. What came next wasn’t a hobby gone...